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previous: XVII.104‑118 This webpage reproduces a portion of The Library of History of Diodorus Siculus published in Vol. IX of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1947 The text is in the public domain. This page has been carefully proofread and I believe it to be free of errors. If you find a mistake though, please let me know! next: XVIII.26‑47

(Vol. IX) Diodorus Siculus
Library of History

 p3  Book XVIII (beginning)

 p11  1 1 Pythagoras of Samos and some others of the ancient philosophers declared that the souls of men are immortal, and also that, in accordance with this doctrine, souls foreknow the future at that moment in death when they are departing from the bodies. 2 It seems that the poet Homer agreed with them, for he introduced Hector at the time of his decease foretelling to Achilles the death that was soon to come upon him.​2 3 Likewise it is reported that even in more recent times what we have described above has happened in the case of many men as they were coming to the end of life, and in particular on the occasion of the death of Alexander of Macedon. 4 When he was quitting life in Babylon and at his last breath was asked by his friends to whom he was leaving the kingdom, he said, "To the best man; for I foresee that a great combat of my friends will  p13 be my funeral games."​3 5 And this actually happened; for after the death of Alexander the foremost of his friends quarrelled about the primacy and joined in many great combats.

6 This Book, which contains an account of the deeds accomplished by these friends, will make the philosopher's saying clear to the interested reader. The preceding Book included all the acts of Alexander up to his death; this one, containing the deeds of those who succeeded to his kingdom, ends with the year before the tyranny of Agathocles and includes seven years.4

2 1 When Cephisodorus was archon at Athens, the Romans elected Lucius Fruriusº and Decius Junius consuls.​5 During this term the throne was vacant, since Alexander the king had died without issue, and great contention arose over the leader­ship.​6 2 The phalanx of the infantry was supporting Arrhidaeus,  p15 son of Philip, for the kingship, although he was afflicted with an incurable mental illness.​7 The most influential of the Friends and of the Bodyguard, however, taking counsel together and joining to themselves the corps of horsemen known as the Companions, at first decided to take up arms against the phalanx and sent to the infantry envoys chosen from men of rank, of whom the most prominent was Meleager, demanding submission to their orders. 3 Meleager, however, when he came to the men of the phalanx, made no mention of his mission but, on the contrary, praised them for the resolution that they had taken and sharpened their anger against their opponents. As a result the Macedonians made Meleager their leader and advanced under arms against those who disagreed with them; 4 but when the Bodyguard had withdrawn from Babylon and was making ready for war, the men most inclined toward conciliation persuaded the parties to come to an agreement. Straightway they made Arrhidaeus, son of Philip, their king and changed his name to Philip; Perdiccas, to whom the king had given his ring as he died, they made regent of the kingdom;​8 and they decided that the most important of the Friends and of the Bodyguard should take over the satrapies and obey the king and Perdiccas.

3 1 After Perdiccas had assumed the supreme command  p17 and had taken counsel with the chief men, he gave Egypt to Ptolemy, son of Lagus,​9 Syria to Laomedon of Mitylenê, Cilicia to Philotas, and Media​10 to Pithon. To Eumenes he gave Paphlagonia and Cappadocia and all the lands bordering on these, which Alexander did not invade, having been prevented from doing so by the urgency of his affairs when he was finishing the war with Darius; to Antigonus he gave Pamphylia, Lycia, and what is called Great Phrygia; then to Asander, Caria; to Menander, Lydia; and to Leonnatus, Hellespontine Phrygia. These satrapies, then, were distributed in that way. 2 In Europe, Thrace and the neighbouring tribes near the Pontic sea were given to Lysimachus, and Macedonia and the adjacent peoples were assigned to Antipater.​11 Perdiccas, however, decided not to disturb the remaining satrapies in Asia but to permit them to remain under the same rulers; likewise he determined that Taxiles and Porus should be masters of their own kingdoms as Alexander himself had arranged.​12 3 To Pithon he gave the satrapy next to Taxiles and the other kings; and the satrapy that lies along the Caucasus,​13 called that of the Paropanisadae,  p19 he assigned to Oxyartes the Bactrian, whose daughter Roxanê Alexander had married. He gave Arachosia and Cedrosia to Sibyrtius, Aria and Dranginê to Stasanor of Soli, Bactrianê and Sogdianê to Philip, Parthia and Hyrcania to Phrataphernes,​14 Persia to Peucestes, Carmania to Tlepolemus,​15 Media to Atropates,​16 Babylonia to Archon, and Mesopotamia to Arcesilaüs. 4 He placed Seleucus in command of the cavalry of the Companions, a most distinguished office; for Hephaestion commanded them first, Perdiccas after him, and third the above-named Seleucus. 5 The transportation of the body of the deceased king and the preparation of the vehicle that was to carry the body to Ammon they assigned to Arrhidaeus.17

4 1 It happened that Craterus, who was one of the most prominent men, had previously been sent away by Alexander to Cilicia with those men who had been discharged from the army, ten thousand in number.​18 At the same time he had received written instructions which the king had given him for execution; nevertheless, after the death of Alexander, it seemed best to the successors not to carry out these plans.​19 2 For  p21 when Perdiccas found in the memoranda of the king orders for the completion of the pyre of Hephaestion,​20 which required a great deal of money, and also for the other designs of Alexander, which were many and great and called for an unprecedented outlay, he decided that it was inexpedient to carry them out. 3 But that he might not appear to be arbitrarily detracting anything from the glory of Alexander, he laid these matters before the common assembly of the Macedonians for consideration.

4 The following were the largest and most remarkable items of the memoranda. It was proposed to build a thousand warships, larger than triremes, in Phoenicia, Syria, Cilicia, and Cyprus for the campaign against the Carthaginians and the others who live along the coast of Libya and Iberia and the adjoining coastal region as far as Sicily;​21 to make a road along the coast of Libya as far as the Pillars of Heracles and, as needed by so great an expedition, to construct ports and shipyards at suitable places; to erect six most costly temples, each at an expense of fifteen hundred talents; and, finally, to establish cities and to transplant populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia, in order to bring the largest continents to common unity and to friendly kinship by means of intermarriages and family ties. 5 The temples mentioned above were to be built at Delos, Delphi, and Dodona, and in Macedonia  p23 a temple to Zeus at Dium, to Artemis Tauropolus at Amphipolis, and to Athena at Cyrnus.​22 Likewise at Ilium in honour of this goddess there was to be built a temple that could never be surpassed by any other.​23 A tomb for his father Philip was to be constructed to match the greatest of the pyramids of Egypt, buildings which some persons count among the seven greatest works of man.​24 6 When these memoranda had been read, the Macedonians, although they applauded the name of Alexander, nevertheless saw that the projects were extravagant and impracticable and decided to carry out none of those that have been mentioned.

7 Perdiccas first put to death those soldiers who were fomenters of discord and most at enmity with himself, thirty in number.​25 After that he also punished Meleager, who had been a traitor on the occasion of the contention and his mission,​26 using as a pretext a private quarrel and a charge that Meleager was plotting against him. 8 Then, since the Greeks who had been settled in the upper satrapies​27 had revolted and raised an army of considerable size, he sent one of the nobles, Pithon, to fight it out with them.

5 1 Considering the events that are to be narrated,  p25 I think it proper first to set forth the causes of the revolt, the situation of Asia as a whole, and the size and characteristics of the satrapies; for by placing before my readers' eyes the topography in general and the distances I shall best make the narrative easy for them to follow.

2 Now from the Cilician Taurus a continuous range of mountains extends through the whole of Asia as far as the Caucasus and the Eastern Ocean.​28 This range is divided by crests of varying heights, and each part has its proper name. 3 Asia is thus separated into two parts, one sloping to the north, the other to the south. Corresponding to these slopes, the rivers flow in opposite directions. Of those on one side, some enter the Caspian Sea, some the Pontus Euxinus, and some the Northern Ocean. Of the rivers that lie opposite to these, some empty into the ocean that faces India, some into the ocean that is adjacent to this continent, and some flow into what is called the Red Sea.​29 4 The satrapies likewise are divided, some sloping toward the north, the others toward the south. The first of those that face the north lie along the Tanais River:​30 Sogdianê and Bactrianê; and next to these are Aria, Parthia,  p27 and Hyrcania, by which the Hyrcanian Sea,​31 a detached body of water, is surrounded. Next is Media, which embraces many regions with distinctive names and is the greatest of all the satrapies. Armenia, Lycaonia, and Cappadocia, all having a very wintry climate, are next. Bordering on them in a straight line are both Great Phrygia and Hellespontine Phrygia; Lydia and Caria are to the side; above Phrygia and beside it is Pisidia, with Lycia next to it. 5 In the coastal regions of these satrapies are established the cities of the Greeks; to give their names is not necessary for our present purposes. The satrapies that face the north are situated in the way described.

6 1 Of those satrapies that face the south, the first one along the Caucasus is India,​32 a great and populous kingdom, inhabited by many Indian nations, of which the greatest is that of the Gandaridae, against whom Alexander did not make a campaign because of the multitude of their elephants.​33 2 The river Ganges, which is the deepest of the region and has a width of thirty stades,​34 separates this land from the neighbouring part of India. Adjacent to this is the rest of  p29 India, which Alexander conquered, irrigated by water from the rivers and most conspicuous for its prosperity. Here were the dominions of Porus and Taxiles, together with many other kingdoms, and through it flows the Indus River, from which the country received its name. 3 Next to the Indian satrapy Arachosia was marked off, and Cedrosia and Carmania, and Persia next to them, in which are Susianê and Sittacinê. Next comes Babylonia extending to the Arabian Desert. On the other side, in the direction from which we make the march inland, is Mesopotamia encompassed by two rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, to which it owes its name. Next to Mesopotamia are Upper Syria, as it is called, and the countries adjacent thereto along the sea: Cilicia, Pamphylia, and Coelê Syria, which encloses Phoenicia. Along the frontiers of Coelê Syria and along the desert that lies next to it, through which the Nile makes its way and divides Syria and Egypt,​35 the best satrapy of all and one that has the greatest revenues, was set up, Egypt. 4 All these countries are very hot, since the air in the south is different from that which extends to the north. The satrapies, then, that were conquered by Alexander, are situated as described, and were distributed to the most noteworthy men.

7 1 The Greeks who had been settled by Alexander in the upper satrapies, as they were called, although  p31 they longed for the Greek customs and manner of life and were cast away in the most distant part of the kingdom, yet submitted while the king was alive through fear; but when he was dead they rose in revolt.​36 2 After they had taken counsel together and elected Philon the Aenianian as general, they raised a considerable force. They had more than twenty thousand foot soldiers and three thousand horse, all of whom had many times been tried in the contests of war and were distinguished for their courage. 3 When Perdiccas heard of the revolt of the Greeks, he drew by lot from the Macedonians three thousand infantry and eight hundred horsemen. As commander of the whole he selected Pithon, who had been of the Bodyguard of Alexander, a man full of spirit and able to command, and assigned to him the troops that had been drawn. After giving him letters for the satraps, in which it was written that they should furnish Pithon ten thousand footmen and eight thousand horsemen, he sent him against the rebels. 4 Pithon, who was a man of great ambition, gladly accepted the expedition, intending to win the Greeks over through kindness, and, after making his army great through an alliance with them, to work in his own interests and become the ruler of the upper satrapies. 5 But Perdiccas, suspecting his design, gave him definite orders to kill all the rebels when he had subdued them, and to distribute the spoils to the soldiers.

Pithon, setting out with the troops that had been given to him and receiving the auxiliaries from the satraps, came upon the rebels with all his forces.  p33 Through the agency of a certain Aenianian he corrupted Letodorus, who had been made a commander of three thousand among the rebels, and won a complete victory. 6 For when the battle was begun and the victory was doubtful, the traitor left his allies without warning and withdrew to a certain hill, taking his three thousand men. The rest, believing that these were bent on flight, were thrown into confusion, turned about, and fled. 7 Pithon, being victorious in the battle, sent a herald to the conquered, ordering them to lay down their arms and to return to their several colonies after receiving pledges. 8 When oaths to this effect had been sworn and the Greeks were interspersed among the Macedonians, Pithon was greatly pleased, seeing that the affair was progressing according to his intentions; but the Macedonians, remembering the orders of Perdiccas and having no regard for the oaths that had been sworn, broke faith with the Greeks. 9 Setting upon them unexpectedly and catching them off their guard, they shot them all down with javelins and seized their possessions as plunder. Pithon then, cheated of his hopes, came back with the Macedonians to Perdiccas. This was the state of affairs in Asia.

8 1 In Europe the Rhodians drove out their Macedonian garrison and freed their city, and the Athenians began what is called the Lamian war against Antipater.​37 It is necessary to set forth the causes of this war in order that the events that took place in it may be made clearer. 2 A short time before his  p35 death, Alexander decided to restore all the exiles in the Greek cities,​38 partly for the sake of gaining fame, and partly wishing to secure many devoted personal followers in each city to counter the revolutionary movements and seditions of the Greeks. 3 Therefore, the Olympic games being at hand,​39 he sent Nicanor of Stageira to Greece, giving him a decree about the restoration, which he ordered him to have proclaimed by the victorious herald to the crowds at the festival.​40 4 Nicanor carried out his instructions, and the herald received and read the following message: "King Alexander to the exiles from the Greek cities. We have not been the cause of your exile, but, save for those of you who are under a curse, we shall be the cause of your return to your own native cities. We have written to Antipater about this to the end that if any cities are not willing to restore you, he may constrain them." 5 When the herald had announced this, the crowd showed its approval with loud applause; for those at the festival welcomed the favour of the king with cries of joy, and repaid his good deed with praises. All the exiles had come together at the festival, being more than twenty thousand in number.

6 Now people in general welcomed the restoration of the exiles as a good thing, but the Aetolians had exiled the Oeniadae from their native city and  p37 expected the punishment appropriate to their wrongdoing; for the king himself had threatened that no sons of the Oeniadae, but he himself, would punish them.​41 7 Likewise the Athenians, who had distributed Samos in allotments to their citizens, were by no means willing to abandon that island. Being no match, however, for the forces of the king, they remained quiet for the time being, waiting for a favourable opportunity, which Fortune quickly gave them.

9 1 When Alexander died a short time thereafter and left no sons as successors to the kingdom, the Athenians ventured to assert their liberty and to claim the leader­ship of the Greeks. As a resource for the war they had the sum of money left by Harpalus, the story of which we told in full in the preceding Book,​42 and likewise the mercenaries who, some eight thousand in number, had been dismissed from service by the satraps and were waiting near Taenarum in the Peloponnesus.​43 2 They therefore gave secret instructions about these to Leosthenes the Athenian,​44 ordering him at first to enrol them as if acting on his own responsibility without authority from the city, in order that Antipater, regarding Leosthenes with contempt, might be less energetic in his preparations, and the Athenians, on the other hand, might gain leisure and time for preparing some of the things necessary for the war. 3 Accordingly Leosthenes had very quietly hired the troops mentioned above and, contrary to general belief,  p39 had secured a considerable number of men ready for action; for these men, who had campaigned throughout Asia for a long time and had taken part in many great conflicts, had become masters of warfare.

4 Now these things were being done while the death of Alexander was not yet certainly known; but when some came from Babylon who had been eyewitnesses of the king's death, then the popular government openly disclosed its intention of war and sent Leosthenes part of the money of Harpalus and many suits of armour, bidding him no longer act in secret but do openly whatever was advantageous. 5 After Leosthenes had distributed their pay to the mercenaries and had fully armed those who lacked armour, he went to Aetolia to arrange for common action. When the Aetolians listened to him gladly and gave him seven thousand soldiers, he sent to the Locrians and the Phocians and the other neighbouring peoples and urged them to assert their freedom and rid Greece of the Macedonian despotism.

10 1 In the Assembly at Athens, while the men of property were advising that no action be taken and the demagogues were rousing the people and urging them to prosecute the war vigorously, those who preferred war and were accustomed to make their living from paid military service were far superior in numbers. These were the men of whom Philip once said that war was peace and peace was war for them. 2 Straightway, then, the orators gave shape to the wishes of the commons by writing a decree to the effect that the people should assume responsibility  p41 for the common freedom of the Greeks and liberate the cities that were subject to garrisons; that they should prepare forty quadriremes and two hundred triremes;​45 that all Athenians up to the age of forty should be enrolled; that three tribes should guard Attica, and that the other seven should be ready for campaigns beyond the frontiers; 3 that envoys should be sent to visit the Greek cities and tell them that formerly the Athenian people, convinced that all Greece was the common fatherland of the Greeks, had fought by sea great those barbarians who had invaded Greece to enslave her, and that now too Athens believed it necessary to risk lives and money and ships in defence of the common safety of the Greeks.

4 When this decree had been ratified more promptly than was wise, those of the Greeks who were superior in understanding said that the Athenian people had counselled well for glory but had missed what was expedient; for they had left the mark before the proper time and, with no necessity compelling them, were venturing to meet forces that were great and undefeated, and moreover, although they enjoyed a reputation for excelling in judgement, they had learned nothing even from the well-known misfortunes to Thebans.​46 5 Nevertheless, as the ambassadors made the circuit of the cities and roused them for war with their accustomed eloquence, most of the Greeks joined the alliance, some by national groups and some by cities.

 p43  11 1 Of the rest of the Greeks, some were well disposed toward the Macedonians, others remained neutral. The Aetolians in full force were the first to join the alliance, as has been said, and after them all the Thessalians except those from Pelinnaeum, the Oetaeans except the inhabitants of Heracleia, the Achaeans of Phthiotis except the people of Thebae, the Melians except those of Lamia, then in succession all the Dorians,​47 the Locrians, and the Phocians, also the Aenianians, the Alyzaeans, and the Dolopians, and in addition the Athamanians, the Leucadians, and those of the Molossians who were subject to Aryptaeus. The last named, after making a hollow alliance, later treacherously co‑operated with the Macedonians. 2 Next, the Carystians from Euboea undertook a share in the war, and finally, of the peoples of the Peloponnesus, the Argives, the Sicyonians, the Eleans, the Messenians, and those who dwell on Actê. Now those of the Greeks who joined the alliance were as I have listed them.

3 Athens sent citizen soldiers to Leosthenes as reinforcements, five thousand foot and five hundred horse, and also two thousand mercenaries. These were to go through Boeotia, but it happened that the Boeotians were hostile to the Athenians for some such reason as the following. After Alexander had razed Thebes, he had given the land to the neighbouring Boeotians. 4 They, having portioned out the property  p45 of the unfortunate people, were receiving a large income from the land. Therefore, since they knew that the Athenians, if they were successful in the war, would restore both fatherland and fields to the Thebans, they were inclined toward the Macedonians. 5 While the Boeotians were in camp near Plataea, Leosthenes, taking part of his own forces, came into Boeotia. Drawing up his own men along with the Athenians against the inhabitants, he defeated the latter in battle and, after erecting a trophy, hurried back to Thermopylae. For there, where he had spent some time in occupying the passes in advance of the enemy, he intended to meet the Macedonian forces.

12 1 When Antipater, who had been left by Alexander as general of Europe, heard of the death of the king in Babylon and of the distribution of the satrapies, he sent into Cilicia to Craterus, asking him to come to his aid as soon as possible (for the latter, having been previously dispatched to Cilicia, was going to bring back to Macedonia the Macedonians who had been mustered out of service, being more than ten thousand in number).​48 He also sent to Philotas,​49 who had received Hellespontine Phrygia as his satrapy, asking him likewise for aid and promising him to give him one of his own daughters in marriage. 2 As soon, however, as he learned of the movement concerted against him by the Greeks, he left Sippas as general of Macedonia, giving him a sufficient army and bidding him enlist as many men as possible, while he himself, taking thirteen thousand Macedonians  p47 and six hundred horsemen (for Macedonia was short of citizen soldiers because of the number of those who had been sent to Asia as replacements for the army), set out from Macedonia to Thessaly, accompanied by the entire fleet which Alexander had sent to convoy a sum of money from the royal treasury to Macedonia, being in all one hundred and ten triremes. 3 At first the Thessalians were allies of Antipater and sent out to him many good horsemen; but later, won over by the Athenians, they rode off to Leosthenes and, arrayed with the Athenians, fought for the liberty of the Greeks. 4 Now that this great force had been added to the Athenians, the Greeks, who far outnumbered the Macedonians, were successful. Antipater was defeated in battle, and subsequently, since he neither dared to engage in battle nor was able to return in safety to Macedonia, he took refuge in Lamia. He kept his troops in this city and strengthened its walls, besides preparing arms, engines, and food, while anxiously waiting for his allies from Asia.

13 1 Leosthenes, when he had come near Lamia with all his forces, fortified a camp with a deep ditch and a palisade. At first he would draw up his forces, approach the city, and challenge the Macedonians to battle; then, as the latter did not dare risk an encounter, he made daily attacks on the walls with relays of soldiers. 2 As the Macedonians defended themselves stoutly, many of the Greeks who pushed on rashly were killed; for the besieged, since there  p49 was a considerable force in the city and an abundance of all sorts of missiles, and the wall, moreover, had been constructed at great expense, easily had the better of the fighting. 3 Leosthenes, giving up hope of capturing the city by storm, shut off all the supplies that were going into it, thinking that he would easily reduce by hunger the forces besieged in the city. He also built a wall and dug a deep, wide ditch, thereby cutting off all escape for the beleaguered troops.

4 After this the Aetolians all returned to Aetolia, having asked Leosthenes for permission to go home for the present because of some national business. Antipater and his men, however, were nearly exhausted and the city was in danger of being taken because of the anticipated famine, when chance gave the Macedonians an unexpected turn of good fortune. 5 For when Antipater made an attack on the men who were digging the moat and a struggle ensued, Leosthenes, coming to aid his men, was struck on the head by a stone and at once fell and was carried to camp in a swoon.​50 On the third day he died and was buried with the honours of a hero because of the glory he had gained in war. The Athenian people caused the funeral oration to be delivered by Hypereides,​51 foremost of the orators in eloquence and in hostility toward the Macedonians; 6 for at that time Demosthenes, the chief of the orators of Athens, was in exile, convicted of having taken some of the money  p51 of Harpalus.​52 In place of Leosthenes, Antiphilus was made general, a man outstanding in military genius and courage.

Such was the situation in Europe.53

14 1 In Asia, of those who had shared in the division of the satrapies, Ptolemy took over Egypt without difficulty and was treating the inhabitants with kindness. Finding eight thousand talents in the treasury, he began to collect mercenaries and to form an army. A multitude of friends also gathered about him on account of his fairness. 2 With Antipater he carried on a diplomatic correspondence that led to a treaty of co‑operation, since he well knew that Perdiccas would attempt to wrest from him the satrapy of Egypt.54

Lysimachus, when he entered the Thracian region and found that the king of that country, Seuthes, had taken the field with twenty thousand infantry and eight thousand cavalry, was not frightened by the size of the army.​55 And although he had in all no more than four thousand foot soldiers and only two thousand horsemen, he joined battle with the barbarians. 3 In truth he was superior to them in the quality of his troops though inferior in numbers, and the battle was a stubborn one. After losing most of his own men but killing many times that number, he returned to his camp with but a doubtful claim to victory. 4 Therefore for the moment the forces of both sides withdrew from the locality and busied  p53 themselves with greater preparations for the final conflict.56

As for Leonnatus, when Hecataeus came to him as envoy and begged him to aid Antipater and the Macedonians with all speed, he promised to give military aid. 5 He crossed over, therefore, into Europe and went on to Macedonia, where he enlisted many additional Macedonian soldiers. When he had gathered together in all more than twenty thousand infantry and fifteen hundred cavalry, he led them through Thessaly against the enemy.

15 1 The Greeks, giving up the siege​57 and burning their camp, sent away to the town of Melitia the camp followers, who were useless in a pitched battle, and the baggage train, while they themselves went forward with light equipment and ready for battle in order to engage the forces of Leonnatus before Antipater joined them and both armies came together in one place. 2 They had in all twenty-two thousand foot soldiers, for all the Aetolians had previously departed to their own country and not a few of the other Greeks had at that time scattered to their native states. More than thirty-five hundred horsemen took part in the campaign, two thousand being Thessalians exceptional for their courage. In these especially the Greeks trusted for victory. 3 Now when a fierce cavalry battle had gone on for some time and the Thessalians, thanks to their valour, were gaining the upper hand, Leonnatus, after fighting  p55 brilliantly even when cut off in a swampy place, was worsted at every point. Stricken with many wounds and at the point of death, he was taken up by his followers and carried, already dead, to the baggage train.​58 4 The cavalry battle having been gloriously won by the Greeks under the command of Menon the Thessalian, the Macedonian phalanx, for fear of the cavalry, at once withdrew from the plain to the difficult terrain above and gained safety for themselves by the strength of the position. When the Thessalian cavalry, which continued to attack, was unable to accomplish anything because of the rough ground, the Greeks, who had set up a trophy and gained control of the dead, left the field of battle.

5 On the next day, however, when Antipater came up with his troops and joined the defeated, all the Macedonians united in a single camp, and Antipater took command of the whole. 6 He decided to avoid fighting for the present and, in view of the fact that the enemy were superior in cavalry, determined not to retreat through the plain. Instead, by going through the rough country and seizing in advance any points of vantage, he made good his retreat from the region. 7 Antiphilus, the Greek commander, having defeated the Macedonians in a glorious battle, played a waiting game, remaining in Thessaly and watching for the enemy to move.

The affairs of the Greeks were thus in thriving condition, 8 but since the Macedonians had command of the sea, the Athenians made ready other ships in addition to those which they already had, so that  p57 there were in all one hundred and seventy.​59 Cleitus was in command of the Macedonian fleet, which numbered two hundred and forty. 9 Engaging with the Athenian admiral Evetion he defeated him in two naval battles and destroyed a large number of the ships of the enemy near the islands that are called the Echinades.

16 1 While these things were going on, Perdiccas, taking with him King Philip and the royal army, campaigned against Ariarathes, the ruler of Cappadocia. His failure to take orders from the Macedonians had been over­looked by Alexander, owing to the struggle with Darius and its distractions, and he had enjoyed a very long respite as king of Cappadocia.​60 2 As a result he had amassed a great sum of money from the revenues and had formed a large body of native troops and mercenaries. He was thus ready to enter the lists against Perdiccas in defence of his kingdom with thirty thousand infantry and fifteen thousand cavalry. Perdiccas joined battle with him, and, defeating him in the conflict, slew men to the  p59 number of four thousand and took captive more than five thousand, among them Ariarathes himself. 3 Now the king and all his relatives Perdiccas tortured and impaled;​61 but to the conquered people he granted immunity, and after putting in order the affairs of Cappadocia, he gave the satrapy to Eumenes of Cardia, just as it had originally been assigned.62

4 About the same time Craterus also departed from Cilicia and arrived in Macedonia to reinforce Antipater and to make good the defeats that the Macedonians had suffered.​63 He brought with him six thousand foot soldiers from those who had crossed into Asia with Alexander and four thousand from those who had been enlisted on the march, one thousand Persian bowmen and slingers, and fifteen hundred horsemen. 5 Entering Thessaly and freely yielding the chief command to Antipater, he shared a camp with him beside the Peneius River.​64 Including those who had been under Leonnatus, there were gathered together in all more than forty thousand heavy armed infantry, three thousand bowmen and slingers, and five thousand cavalry.

17 1 The Greeks who were encamped against them at this time were far inferior in numbers; for many of them, despising the enemy because of their former good fortune, had gone away to their own cities to  p61 look after their private affairs. 2 Since many soldiers were absent from duty for this reason, there remained in camp only twenty-five thousand foot soldiers and thirty-five hundred cavalry. They placed their chief hope of victory in the latter, because the men were brave and the ground was level.

3 At last Antipater began to draw up his forces each day and challenge the Greeks to battle. For a while these waited for their men to return from their cities, but since time was pressing, they were forced to come out and stake all. They drew up their lines, placing the cavalry in front of the phalanx of infantry, since they were eager to decide the battle by means of this arm. 4 When the cavalry had met in battle and the Thessalian horsemen were getting the advantage because of their valour, Antipater led out his own phalanx and, rushing upon the infantry of the enemy, began to make great slaughter. The Greeks, since they were not able to withstand the weight and number of the enemy, immediately withdrew to the rough ground, carefully keeping their ranks. Thus they occupied the higher ground and easily repulsed the Macedonians thanks to their possession of the superior position. 5 Although the Greek cavalry had gained the advantage, as soon as the horsemen learned of the withdrawal of the infantry, they at once retired toward them. Then, after such a combat as I have described, the battle was broken off, as the scales of victory swung in favour of the Macedonians. More than five hundred of the Greeks  p63 were killed in the battle, and one hundred and thirty of the Macedonians.65

6 On the next day Menon and Antiphilus, the leaders of the Greeks, came together and took counsel whether they should wait for the allies from the cities and then, when they were in position to fight on equal terms, seek a final decision, or, yielding to the present situation, should send envoys to seek a truce. They decided to dispatch heralds to treat for peace. 7 These carried out their orders, but Antipater answered that the cities must negotiate separately, for he would by no means make a mass settlement. Since the Greeks refused to agree to peace terms city by city, Antipater and Craterus began to lay siege to the cities in Thessaly and to take them by storm, since the Greeks could not send aid to them. When the cities were thus badly frightened and each on its own account began to send envoys about a settlement, Antipater came to terms with all of them, granting them peace on easy terms. 8 This resulted in a movement among the cities to secure their safety separately, and all quickly obtained terms of peace; but those who were most hostile to the Macedonians, the Aetolians and the Athenians, deserted by their allies, took counsel about the war with their own generals.

18 1 Antipater, after he had destroyed the alliance of the Greeks by this device, led all his forces against the Athenians. The people, bereft of the aid of their allies, were in great perplexity. All turned to  p65 Demades and shouted that he must be sent as envoy to Antipater to sue for peace; but, although he was called on by name to give advice, he did not respond. 2 He had been convicted three times​66 of introducing illegal decrees, and for this reason he had been deprived of his rights as a citizen and was prevented by the laws from advising; yet, on being restored to full rights by the possible, he was at once sent as envoy along with Phocion and some others. 3 When Antipater had heard what they had to say, he made answer that he would end the war against the Athenians on no other condition than that they surrender all their interests to his discretion; for, after they had shut Antipater up in Lamia, they had made that same reply to him when he had sent envoys about peace. The people, not being in position to fight, were forced to grant to Antipater such discretion and complete authority over the city. 4 He dealt humanely with them and permitted them to retain their city and their possessions and everything else; but he changed the government from a democracy, ordering that political power should depend on a census of wealth, and that those possessing more than two thousand drachmas should be in control of the government and of the elections. He removed from the body of citizens all who possessed less than this amount on the ground that they were disturbers of the peace and warmongers, offering to those who wished it a place for settlement in Thrace. 5 These men, more than twelve thousand in number, were removed from their fatherland; but those who possessed the stated rating, being about nine thousand,  p67 were designated as masters of both city and territory and conducted the government according to the constitution of Solon. All were permitted to keep their property uncurtailed. They were, however, forced to receive a garrison with Menyllus as its commander, its purpose being to prevent anyone from undertaking changes in the government. 6 The decision in regard to Samos was referred to the kings. The Athenians, being thus humanely treated beyond their hopes, secured peace; and, since henceforth they conducted their public affairs without disturbance and enjoyed the produce of the land unmolested, they quickly made great progress in wealth.

7 When Antipater had returned to Macedonia, he presented Craterus with suitable honours and gifts, giving him also his eldest daughter Phila in marriage, and helped him to prepare for his return to Asia. 8 He likewise showed moderation in dealing with the other Greek cities, both reducing their citizen bodies and wisely reforming them, for which he received eulogies and crowns. 9 Perdiccas, restoring their city and territory to the Samians, brought them back to their fatherland after they had been exiles for forty-three years.67

19 1 Now that we have narrated all the actions in the course of the Lamian War, we shall turn to the war that took place in Cyrenê, so that the course of our history may not deviate too much from the chronological sequence. But it is necessary to go back a little in time in order to make clearer the  p69 several series of events.​68 2 When Harpalus had fled from Asia and sailed to Crete with the mercenaries, as we have shown in the preceding Book,​69 Thibron, who was regarded as one of his friends, treacherously murdered him and gained control of the money and the soldiers, who numbered seven thousand.​70 3 He also took possession of the ships, embarked the soldiers on them, and sailed to the land of the Cyrenians. He had taken with him the exiles from Cyrenê and was using them as instructors in his project because of their knowledge of the locality. When the Cyrenians opposed him and a battle took place, Thibron was victorious, killing many and taking captive no small number. 4 By gaining control of the harbour and besieging and frightening the Cyrenians, he forced them to come to terms, and to agree to give him five hundred talents of silver and to contribute half of their chariots to aid his campaign. 5 He sent envoys, moreover, to the other cities, asking them to make an alliance on the ground that he was going to subdue the neighbouring parts of Libya. He also treated as spoil the property of the traders that had been captured in the port and gave it to his soldiers as plunder, calling forth their zeal for the war.

 p71  20 1 Although the affairs of Thibron were thus prospering, Fortune by a sudden shift humbled him through the following circumstances. One of his leaders, a Cretan by birth, whose name was Mnasicles, a man of experience in warfare, quarrelled with him, having complained about the distribution of the booty; and being contentious by nature and bold, he deserted to the Cyrenians. 2 Moreover, he made many complaints against Thibron, charging him with cruelty and faithlessness, and persuaded the Cyrenians to break the treaty and make a bid for liberty. And so when sixty talents only had been paid, and the rest of the money was not being given, Thibron denounced the rebels, seized any Cyrenians who were in the port, some eighty in number, and then, leading his forces directly against the city, laid siege to it. As he was unable to accomplish anything, he returned to the port. 3 Since the people of Barca and of Hesperis​71 were allied with Thibron, the Cyrenians, leaving part of their forces in Cyrenê, took the field with part and plundered the land of their neighbours. 4 When these called on Thibron to give them aid, he led all his soldiers against the alliance.​72 At this the Cretan, concluding that the harbour was deserted, persuaded those who were left in Cyrenê to attack it. 5 When they obeyed him, he at once made an attack on the port, leading the way himself; and, easily gaining control of it thanks to the absence of Thibron,  p73 he restored to the merchants what was left of the cargoes and zealously guarded the port.

6 At first Thibron was disheartened, since he had lost an advantageous position and the equipment of his soldiers; but afterwards, when he had recovered his spirits and captured by siege the city called Tauchira, his hopes again rose. It chanced, however, that in a short time he again encountered great misfortunes. 7 The crews of his ships, having been deprived of their harbour and resulting short of food, were accustomed each day to go out into the country and gather supplies there; but the Libyans ambushed them as they were wandering about the country, killed many, and took no small number captive. Those who escaped the danger fled to the ships and sailed away for the allied cities. But when a great storm overtook them, most of the ships were swallowed by the sea; of the rest, some were cast ashore in Cyprus, others in Egypt.

21 1 Nevertheless Thibron, although he had encountered such a misfortune, did not give up the campaign. Selecting those of his friends who were fitted for the task, he sent them to the Peloponnesus to hire those of the mercenaries who were waiting about near Taenarum; for many of the discharged mercenaries were still roaming about seeking paymasters; and at that time there were more than twenty-five hundred of them at Taenarum. 2 His messengers engaged these and set out upon the voyage to  p75 Cyrenê. But before their arrival the Cyrenians, encouraged by their successes, joined battle and defeated Thibron, killing many of his soldiers. 3 But when, on account of these failures, Thibron was now ready to abandon the operations against Cyrenê, he unexpectedly regained courage; for as soon as the soldiers from Taenarum put into port and a large force was added to his strength, he became confident in spirit. 4 As the Cyrenians saw the tide of war again rising, they summoned the allied forces from the neighbouring Libyans and from the Carthaginians, and having collected in all thirty thousand men including their citizen soldiers, they made ready to reach a final decision in battle. When a great battle had taken place, Thibron, having won the victory with great slaughter of the enemy, was overjoyed, believing that he would at once capture the adjacent cities; 5 but the Cyrenians, whose commanders had all been killed in the battle, elected the Cretan Mnasicles general along with others. Thibron, elated by the victory, laid siege to the port of the Cyrenians and made daily assaults on Cyrenê. 6 As the war continued a long time, the Cyrenians, who were in want of food, quarrelled among themselves; and the commons, gaining the upper hand, drove out the rich, who, bereft of their fatherland, fled, some to Thibron, others to Egypt. 7 The latter, after persuading Ptolemy to restore them, returned bringing with them a considerable force, both infantry and naval, with Ophellas as general. The exiles who were with Thibron, hearing of the approach of these men and attempting to  p77 go over to them secretly at night, were detected and cut down to a man. 8 The democratic leaders of Cyrenê, becoming alarmed at the return of the exiles, made terms with Thibron and prepared to fight against Ophellas in common with him; 9 but Ophellas, after defeating and capturing Thibron and also gaining control of the cities, delivered both the cities and the country over the Ptolemy the king.​73 Thus the Cyrenians and the surrounding cities lost their freedom and were annexed to the kingdom of Ptolemy.

22 1 Now when Perdiccas and King Philip had defeated Ariarathes and delivered his satrapy to Eumenes,​74 they departed from Cappadocia. And having arrived in Pisidia, they determined to lay waste two cities, that of the Larandians and that of the Isaurians; for while Alexander was still alive these cities had put to death Balacrus the son of Nicanor, who had been appointed general and satrap. 2 Now the city of the Larandians they took by assault, and after killing the men of fighting age and enslaving the rest of the population, razed it to the ground. The city of the Isaurians, however, was strongly fortified and large and moreover was filled with stout warriors; so when they had besieged it vigorously for two days and had lost many of their own men, they withdrew; 3 for the inhabitants, who were well provided with missiles and other things needed for withstanding a siege and were enduring the dreadful ordeal with desperate courage in their hearts, were readily giving their lives to preserve their freedom.  p79 4 On the third day, when many had been slain and the walls had few defenders because of the lack of men, the citizens performed a heroic and memorable deed. Seeing that the punishment that hung over them could not be averted, and not having a force that would be adequate to stave the enemy off, they determined not to surrender the city and place their fate in the hands of the enemy, since in that way their punishment combined with outrage was certain; but at night all with one accord, seeking the noble kind of death, shut up their children, wives, and parents in their houses, and set the houses on fire, choosing by means of the fire a common death and burial. 5 As the blaze suddenly flared aloft, the Isaurians cast into the fire their goods and everything that could be of use to the victors; Perdiccas and his officers, astounded at what was taking place, stationed their troops about the city and made a strong effort to break into the city on all sides. 6 When now the inhabitants defended themselves from the walls and struck down many of the Macedonians, Perdiccas was even more astonished and sought the reason why men who had given their homes and all else to the flames should be so intent upon defending the walls. 7 Finally Perdiccas and the Macedonians withdrew from the city, and the Isaurians, throwing themselves into the fire, found burial in their homes along with their families.​75 8 When the night was over, Perdiccas gave the city to his soldiers for booty. They, when they had put out the fire, found an abundance of  p81 silver and gold, as was natural in a city that had been prosperous for a great many years.

23 1 After the destruction of the cities there came two women to marry Perdiccas,​76 Nicaea, the daughter of Antipater, for whose hand Perdiccas himself had sued, and Cleopatra, who was Alexander's own sister, daughter of Philip son of Amyntas. 2 Perdiccas had formerly planned to work in harmony with Antipater, and for this reason he had pressed his suit when his position was not yet firmly established; but when he had gained control of the royal armies and the guardian­ship of the kings, he changed his calculations. 3 For since he was now reaching out for the kingship, he was bent upon marrying Cleopatra, believing that he could use her to persuade the Macedonians to help him gain the supreme power. But not wishing as yet to reveal his design, he married Nicaea for the time, so that he might not render Antipater hostile to his own undertakings. Presently, however, Antigonus learned his intentions, and since Antigonus was a friend of Antipater and, moreover, the most energetic of the commanders, Perdiccas decided to put him out of the way. 4 So, by bringing false slanders and unjust charges against him, he clearly revealed his intention of destroying him. Antigonus, however, who excelled in keenness and daring, outwardly let it be known that he wished to defend himself against these charges, but secretly he made arrangements for flight and, with his personal friends  p83 and his son Demetrius, boarded the Athenian ships unexpectedly at night. And having been brought to Europe in these, he travelled on to join forces with Antipater.

24 1 At this time Antipater and Craterus had taken the field against the Aetolians with thirty thousand infantry and twenty-five hundred cavalry; for of those who had taken part in the Lamian War, the Aetolians alone were left unconquered.​77 2 Although such great forces were sent against them, they were in no panic-stricken mood, but gathering together all who were in the full vigour of manhood to the number of ten thousand, they retired to the mountainous and rough places, in which they placed the children, the women, and the old, together with the greater part of their wealth. The cities that could not be defended they abandoned, but those that were particularly strong they secured, each with a considerable garrison, and boldly awaited the approach of the enemy.

25 1 Antipater and Craterus, coming into Aetolia and finding that the cities which were easy to capture were deserted, moved against the men who had withdrawn into the difficult regions. At first, then, the Macedonians, violently attacking positions that were strongly fortified and in broken terrain, lost many of their soldiers; for the hardihood of the Aetolians joined with the strength of their positions easily turned back men who rushed headlong into dangers beyond reach of succour. Afterward, however, when Craterus had built shelters and was forcing the enemy to stay through the winter and to hold out in regions  p85 that were covered with snow and lacking in food, the Aetolians were brought into the greatest dangers;​78 2 for they had either to come down from their mountains and fight against forces numbering many times their own and against famous generals, or to remain and be utterly destroyed by want and cold. When they were already giving up hope of salvation, relief from their troubles appeared of its own accord, just as if one of the gods had been moved to pity by their high courage. 3 For Antigonus, he who had fled from Asia, joined Antipater and told him the whole plot of Perdiccas, and that Perdiccas, after marrying Cleopatra, would come at once with his army to Macedonia as king and deprive Antipater of the supreme command. 4 Craterus and Antipater, dumbfounded by the unexpected news, met in council with their commanders. When the situation had been presented for deliberation, it was unanimously decided to make peace with the Aetolians on whatever terms were possible, to transport the armies with all speed to Asia, to assign the command of Asia to Craterus and that of Europe to Antipater, and also to send an embassy to Ptolemy to discuss concerted action, since he was utterly hostile to Perdiccas but friendly to them, and he in common with them was an object of the plot. 5 Therefore they at once made a treaty with the Aetolians, firmly resolved to conquer them later and to move them all — men, women, and children — to the most distant desert of Asia. When they had recorded a decree embodying these plans, they made preparations for the campaign.

 p87  6 Perdiccas, gathering his friends and generals, referred to them for consideration the question whether it was better to march against Macedonia or first to take the field against Ptolemy. When all favoured defeating Ptolemy first in order that there might be no obstacle in the way of their Macedonian campaign, he sent Eumenes off with a considerable army, ordering him to watch over the region of the Hellespont and prevent a crossing; and he himself, taking the army from Pisidia, proceeded against Egypt.79

Such, then, were the events of this year.

---

The Loeb Editor's Notes:

1 i.e. those of the far eastern part of the empire.

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2 Homer, Iliad, 22.358‑360.

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3 Cp. Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, 7.26.3; Curtius, 10.5.5; Justin, 12.15.6‑8.

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4 Diodorus (19.2.1) dates the beginning of the tyranny of Agathocles in the archon­ship of Demogenes, 317/16. The events recorded in Book 18 are divided among the years of four archons: Cephisodorus, 323/2 (chaps. 2‑25); Philocles, 322/1 (chaps. 26‑43); Apollodorus, 319/18 (chaps. 44‑57); and Archippus, 318/17 (chaps. 58‑75). The burial of Alexander (chaps. 26‑28) and the campaign of Eumenes against Craterus (chaps. 29‑32), which fill the first part of Diodorus' narrative of 322/1, are placed by the Marmor Parium in the following year. The remaining years recorded by Diodorus as taking place in 322/1 are not mentioned in the Marmor Parium, which has no entry for 320/19. It seems impossible to determine whether the chronological confusion is due to Diodorus himself, or to one or more undiscoverable lacunae in the manuscripts. For a further discussion of this problem cp. "Note on Chronology" in the Introduction to this volume.

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5 Cephisodorus was archon in 323/2. According to the conventional (Varronian) chronology, Lucius Furius Camillus and Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva were consuls in 325 B.C., the former holding the office for a second time (Livy, 8.29.2). Cp. H. Stuart Jones in Cambridge Ancient History, 7.321‑322.

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6 For other accounts of the quarrel and the settlement cp. Dexippus, FGrH, 100.8; Arrian, FGrH, 156.1.1‑3; Curtius, 10.6‑8; Justin, 13.2‑4; Plutarch, Eumenes, 3.1.

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7 According to Plutarch (Alexander, 77.5), Arrhidaeus' mother was an obscure woman named Philinna, and his own mental deficiency was due to a drug given him by Olympias.º

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8 Perdiccas did in fact act as sole regent, but by the terms of the settlement the power was divided between him and Craterus, and Meleager was made Perdiccas' lieutenant (Dexippus, FGrH, 100.8.4; Arrian, FGrH, 156.1.1‑3; Justin, 13.4.5). Diodorus omits any reference to the expected son of Roxanê, who was to share the throne with Arrhidaeus, but beginning with chapter 18.6 he regularly speaks of the kings rather than of the king.

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9 This list of satrapies and satraps agrees, with the exceptions noted below, with that in Dexippus (FGrH, 100.8). Arrian (FGrH, 156.1.5‑8) and Curtius (10.10.1‑6) also agree, but do not include the eastern satrapies. Justin (13.4.9‑25) is very inaccurate.

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10 Media Maior: cp. on § 3.

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11 Arrian assigns this command jointly to Antipater and Craterus.

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12 Cp. Book 17.86.7, 89.6.

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13 i.e. the Hindu Kush.

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14 Dexippus gives this name as Rhadaphernes.

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15 Dexippus gives this name as Neoptolemus.

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16 Atropates, father-in‑law of Perdiccas, had been satrap of all Media (Arrian, Anabasis, 4.18.3, 7.4.5). He now retained the north-west portion, henceforth known as Lesser Media or Media Atropatenê, which soon became independent and was ruled by his descendants for many years (Strabo, 11.13.1).

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17 In spite of Justin (13.4.6), this is not Philip Arrhidaeus, the king. Cp. chap. 26‑28 and 36.7. Pausanias (1.6.3) states that the body was to be buried in Macedon, and Arrian (FGrH, 156.9.25) implies that the body was not to go to Egypt.

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18 Cp. Book 17.109.1.

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19 For a discussion of these plans in general, and in particular of the plan for invading Africa and Europe, see W. W. Tarn, Journal of Hellenic Studies, 49 (1939), pp124‑135; and C. A. Robinson, Jr., American Journal of Philology, 61 (1940), pp402‑412.

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20 Since the pyre had already been completed (Book 17.114‑115), the reference here appears to be to the tomb planned by Alexander (Plutarch, Alexander, 72.3).

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21 The attack is to be directed against the non-Greeks on the northern coast of Africa and on the southern coast of Europe from Spain to Sicily. Cp. Arrian, Anabasis, 7.1.1‑4; Curtius, 10.1.17‑18; Plutarch, Alexander, 68.1.

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22 Cyrnus in Macedon is otherwise unknown, but the name is found elsewhere in Greece (Herodotus, 9.105; Pliny, Natural History, 4.53), and the change to Cyrrhus, although easy, seems unnecessary.

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23 Cp. Strabo, 13.1.26.

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24 Cp. Book 1.63.2‑9. Antipater of Sidon (Pal. Anthol. 9.58), an epigrammatist of the second century B.C., gives the following as the seven wonders of the world: The walls of Babylon, the statue of Zeus by Pheidias, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes, the pyramids of Egypt, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Other lists combine the walls and the hanging gardens of Babylon, and add the Pharos at Alexandria.

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25 Curtius (10.9.18) says three hundred. Cp. Arrian, FGrH, 156.1.4.

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26 Cp. chap. 2.3.

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27 i.e. those of the far eastern part of the empire.

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28 The Caucasus is the Hindu Kush. The Eastern Ocean is specifically the Bay of Bengal, but thought of as forming the eastern boundary of Asia. The division of Asia by the Taurus Range follows Eratosthenes (Strabo, 2.1.1, 2.5.31‑32).

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29 These three bodies of water are, respectively, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal (called the Eastern Ocean above), and the Persian Gulf. "This continent" is probably Asia.

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30 Properly the Don, but here the Oxus (modern Amu-Darya), or possibly the Jaxartes (Syr-Darya), both of which are frequently confused with the Don by ancient writers; or, perhaps, are thought to be part of the Don River system.

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31 This name is sometimes applied to the whole of the Caspian Sea, sometimes to its eastern portion only. Eratosthenes and later Greek geographers in general believed that the Caspian was a gulf of the Northern Ocean (Strabo, 2.1.17, 2.5.18), but Herodotus (1.203.1) had already called it an inland sea.

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32 In Book 2.35‑37, Diodorus discusses India, which he states to be square, bounded on south and east by the "Great Sea" (the Indian Ocean or the Bay of Bengal), on the west by the Indus, and on the north by the mountains. Of the southern extension of India he knows nothing.

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33 They are said to have had four thousand war elephants (Books 2.37.3, 17.93.2).

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34 In Book 2.37.2 the width is given as thirty stades, but in Book 17.93.2 it is thirty-two. Strabo (15.1.35) quotes Megasthenes as giving it a width of one hundred stades •(about twelve miles).

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35 By some geographers the Nile was regarded as the boundary between Asia and Libya-Africa (Strabo, 1.4.7); others included Egypt in Asia (Strabo 2.5.33).

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36 For earlier unrest in these satrapies see Book 17.99.5‑6; Curtius, 9.7.1‑11.

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37 For the Lamian War see Arrian, FGrH, 156.1.9, 12; Plutarch, Demosthenes, 27, Phocion, 23‑26; Hypereides, Funeral Oration, 10‑20; Justin, 13.5; Pausanias, 1.25.3‑5.

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38 Cp. Book 17.109.1.

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39 In 324, the year before Alexander's death.

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40 The games began with a contest of heralds, the winner in which officiated throughout the festival. Cp. Suetonius, Nero, 24.1; Pausanias, 5.22.1 and J. G. Frazer on this passage.

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41 Cp. Plutarch, Alexander, 49.8.

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42 Cp. Book 17.108.4‑8. The mercenaries brought to Greece by Harpalus were no longer available (chap. 19.2).

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43 Cp. Book 17.111.1‑3.

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44 Leosthenes himself had been instrumental in repatriating many of these mercenaries (Pausanias, 1.25.5; 8.52.5), possibly as an agent of Athens.

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45 But see critical note on this passage. Justin (13.5.8) estimates the Athenian force as two hundred ships in all.

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46 For the destruction of Thebes by Alexander cp. Book 17.8‑14.

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47 i.e. the inhabitants of Doris in central Greece.

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48 Cp. Books 17.109.1, and 18.4.1, 16.4.

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49 This is an error for Leonnatus. Cp. chaps. 3.1 and 14.4.

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50 For a different account of his death see Justin, 13.5.12‑13.

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51 A considerable part of this oration is extant.

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52 According to A. Schäfer (Demosthenes und seine Zeit2 (Leipzig, 1885), 3.341), Demosthenes had returned to Athens before this time. Cp. Plutarch, Demosthenes, 27.4‑5.

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53 The account is continued in chap. 15.1.

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54 Cp. chap. 29.1.

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55 Cp. Arrian, FGrH, 156.1.10.

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56 We have no account of the immediate sequel. Seuthes retained his title, but seems to have become an unwilling ally of Lysimachus, whom he deserted in 313 (Book 19.73.8).

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57 i.e. of Lamia (chap. 13.6), which had continued through the winter of 323/2. Melitia is north of Lamia in southern Thessaly.

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58 Cp. Arrian, FGrH, 156.1.9; Justin, 13.5.14‑16.

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59 Diodorus has condensed his account of the naval campaign to the point of unintelligibility, although it was probably the decisive factor in the war. We cannot even be sure whether Diodorus intends to mention two sea battles or three. T. Walek (Revue de Philologie, 48 (1924), 23 ff.) reconstructs the campaign as follows. While part of the original Athenian fleet of 240 ships (chap. 10.2) blockaded the fleet of Antipater in the Malian Gulf, the rest held the Hellespont and for a time prevented Leonnatus from coming to the aid of Antipater. Although this fleet was increased to 170 ships, it was defeated in the spring of 322 by the larger fleet of Cleitus at Abydos (cp. Inscriptiones Graecae, editio minor, 2.298 and 493). Cleitus then crossed the Aegean and defeated the other Athenian fleet with great loss at the Lichades Islands in the Malian Gulf (see critical note), and at once removed to Amorgos for the final battle (Plutarch, Demetrius, 11.3; Marmor Parium for 323/2), which ended Athenian sea power forever. It is hard to see how any battle of this war could have taken place near the Echinades (off the west coast of Acarnania), but this name may conceal a reference to Echinus on the north shore of the Malian Gulf.

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60 According to Hieronymus of Cardia (FGrH, 154.4), Ariarathes lived to the age of eighty-two. For this campaign cp. Arrian, FGrH, 156.1.11; Justin, 13.6.1‑3; Plutarch, Eumenes, 3.2, 6.

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61 But cp. Book 31, frag. 19.3‑5 (Dindorf), according to which Ariarathes fell in the battle, and an adopted son escaped, later to recover the kingdom.

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62 Cp. chap. 3.1. The narrative is continued in chap. 22.1.

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63 For other accounts of the final campaign of the Lamian War and the settlement that followed cp. Plutarch, Phocion, 26‑30; Arrian, FGrH, 156.1.12; Pausanias, 7.10.4‑5.

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64 At Crannon, from which the battle next described takes its name.

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65 Dinsmoor (Archons in tin the Hellenistic Age, 329) places the Battle of Crannon on September 5, 322 B.C.

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66 The number of convictions is given as seven by Plutarch (Phocion, 26.2) and as two by Suidas (s.v. Demades).

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67 Samos had been captured by the Athenian general Timotheüs in 366/5 (IG, 2.699.20; Nepos, Timotheüs, 1; Demosthenes, For the Rhodians, 9; cp. Beloch, Griechische Geschichte2, 3.2.245 f.). Diodorus returns to Greek affairs in chap. 24.

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68 The battle of Crannon probably took place in September, 322 (Plutarch, Camillus, 19; W. B. Dinsmoor, Archons of Athens in the Hellenistic Age, 329), but the settlement of Athens may not have been completed for several years (Cambridge Ancient History, 6.458 ff.).

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69 Cp. Book 17.108.4‑8.

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70 According to Pausanias (2.33.4), Harpalus was murdered either by his slaves or by a Macedonian named Pausanias. For other accounts of Thibron's campaign against Cyrenê and his final defeat by Ptolemy cp. Arrian, FGrH, 156.9.16‑19; Justin, 13.6.18; Marmor Parium for 322/1. In Book 17.108.6 and in Arrian the number of mercenaries is given as six thousand.

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71 Also called Hesperides, Euhesperides, and Berenicê (modern Benghazi), the westernmost city of Cyrenê. Barca lies a short distance north-east.

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72 i.e. against the Cyrenians and their Libyan and Carthaginian army, who are not mentioned until chap. 21.4.

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73 The capture of Cyrenê is placed in 322/1 by the Parian Marble. Ptolemy had not yet become king (Book 20.53.3). For the later attempt of the Cyrenians to recover their freedom see Book 19.79.1‑3.

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74 Cp. chap. 16.3.

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75 Justin (13.6.1‑3) tells much the same tale but in connection with Perdiccas' war against Ariarathes.

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76 For these and other intrigues, and for the flight of Antigonus to Macedonia, cp. Arrian, FGrH, 156.9.20‑24, 26; Justin, 13.6.4‑8. The flight cannot be dated before the winter of 322/1.

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77 Cp. chap. 18.8. This campaign, since it follows the battle of Crannon (September, 322), belongs to the archon-year 322/1.

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78 The winter of 322/1.

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79 Cp. chaps. 29‑32 for the campaign of Eumenes, and chaps. 33‑37 for that of Perdiccas.

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